Innovation

Wannon Water prides itself on demonstrating leadership in innovation, water supply security and sustainability, implementing ideas to support future growth and regional prosperity.

Some of our more current innovations are described below. For more information, contact us.

Roof water harvesting

Background

The Warrnambool Roof Water Harvesting Project is a leading example of integrated water management. The project ‘taps’ a new water catchment by capturing water from roofs that would otherwise be lost in run-off, supporting more liveable and sustainable cities. Wannon Water is very proud of this innovative project, a first in Australia.

Roof Water Harvesting refers to rain water being collected from rooftops in new residential or Industrial subdivisions and transported through pipes to an existing raw water storage. The water is then treated at the Water Treatment Plant and becomes part of the drinking water supply.

Future growth

This system is progressively being expanded as development occurs in Warrnambool’s main north-east growth corridor over the next 30 years. The roofs of some 3,000 new homes to be constructed will form an urban catchment that is expected to contribute 471 megalitres of water per year into the Brierly Basin and then treated at the Warrnambool Water Treatment Plant for urban drinking water.

During the 2016/17 period, Wannon Water worked with the developers of the Warrnambool Gateway Business Park in East Warrnambool to design the pipe network and pumping station to collect roof water from industrial sheds built on stage one of the development. The works are planned for completion in the 2017/18 financial year and, when fully developed, this stage is expected to harvest 25 megalitres per year.

Awards

Most recently in December 2017 the Wannon Water ‘Warrnambool Roof Water Harvesting Project’ won the ‘Infrastructure Project Innovation Award’ at the Australian Water Association’s Victorian Water Awards.

Picture courtesy of the Australian Water Association.

Wannon Water's innovation capabilities were previously recognised at a national level, with the mastermind of the visionary Roof Water Harvesting project, Peter Wilson, winning the Australian Achiever category of the 2011 savewater! awards. The project also received a High Commendation at the AWA 2012 Victorian Water Awards.

Tool kit

A Roof Water Harvesting tool kit has also been developed to assist other growth regions identify how they can use the same approach.

The tool kit helps assess the financial viability of similar systems within Australia and allows quick comparisons with other potential water supply sources. By entering a number of key parameters, it allows a roof water harvesting system to be defined in terms of the collection system, transfer pipelines, storage basins and a treatment plant.

Warrnambool Brine Receival Facility

The $3.6 million innovative Warrnambool Brine Receival Facility is a unique development that provides multiple benefits for the South West region.

It provides a much-needed sustainable, local solution for treating salty trade waste from some of the region's largest industries and enables regional economic growth. It also reduces demand on drinking water supplies by using recycled water at the screening plant and belt press at the Warrnambool Water Reclamation Plant.

The project, jointly funded with $537,602 from the Victorian Government, was officially opened on Friday 4 October 2013.

Camperdown Industrial Water Reclamation Plant Upgrade

Camperdown and the wider Corangamite Shire will benefit from the $1.9 million upgrade to the Camperdown Industrial Water Reclamation plant which was completed in 2013.

The upgrade to the facility provides vital sustainable trade waste services for the Camperdown Saleyards and Aussie Farmers Dairy.

The treatment facility is a sustainable solution requiring low levels of energy to operate. It involved converting existing storages into a series of treatment lagoons, 9.2 million-litre winter storage to store treated effluent and the installation for a recirculation system.

This project was aided by a $1 million grant from the Victorian Government .Joint funding was also provided by Wannon Water $304,000, Corangamite Shire Council $303,000, Aussie Farmers Dairy $303,000.

This plant upgrade is a collaborative project delivering an innovative solution that enables regional growth.

Aquaculture

Wannon Water's aquaculture program wound up in late 2017 after nine years of research.

The innovative project showed that aquaculture can improve the quality of recycled water and reduce the reliance on expensive mechanical de-sludging of sewage lagoons.

Wannon Water agreed to explore the concept in a partnership with Deakin University, successfully pioneering the use of goldfish to reduce sludge during tank trials in Hamilton.

The aquaculture program was then scaled up, allowing Wannon Water to produce its own goldfish at a hatchery in Warrnambool and grow them out at a juvenile fish production facility in Hamilton.

Goldfish were released into the Hamilton primary effluent lagoon and, later, in a controlled trial at the Port Campbell primary effluent lagoons. The more colourful goldfish were sold into the aquarium market to provide additional revenue for the project.

In addition, Wannon Water was able to successfully breed carp X goldfish hybrids, specifically designed for an effluent lagoon environment.

The Port Campbell trial has now concluded according to the project schedule and in-lagoon data has been collated and analysed.

The research found that a carp-goldfish hybrid appears to have the most potential for sludge reduction.

Wannon Water will share the findings from the project with the wider water industry and recommend that hybrids should be the focus of future research and development efforts.

25 Gateway

Wannon Water's 25 Gateway Road building complex is a flagship for water and energy efficient building design in South-West Victoria and demonstrates Wannon Water's leadership in sustainability.

The construction of 25 Gateway allowed Wannon Water to consolidate from four cramped offices into a single office, providing Warrnambool employees with a vastly improved work environment and producing social, environmental and productivity benefits.

The building design incorporates ecologically sustainable features and a 5-star environmental performance rating under the NABERS Energy for Offices scheme. It is designed to reduce energy consumption by 30% and water consumption by 50%. Recycling targets for materials were also used during construction, extending sustainability outcomes within the supply chain.